Rotational-invariant speckle-scanning ultrasonography through thick bones

Ultrasonography is a major medical imaging technique that has been broadly applied in many disease diagnoses. However, due to strong aberration and scattering in the human skull, high-resolution transcranial ultrasonic imaging remains a grand challenge. Here, we explore the rotational-invariant property of ultrasonic speckle and develop high-resolution speckle-scanning ultrasonography to image sub-millimeter-sized features through thick bones. We experimentally validate the rotational invariance of ultrasonic speckle. Based on this property, we scan a random ultrasonic speckle pattern across an object sandwiched between two thick bones so that the object features can be encoded to the ultrasonic waves. After receiving the transmitted ultrasonic waves, we reconstruct the image of the object using an iterative phase retrieval algorithm. We successfully demonstrate imaging of hole and tube features sized as fine as several hundreds of microns between two 0.5 ~ 1-cm-thick bones. With 2.5-MHz excitation and the third-harmonic detection, we measure the spatial resolution as 352 µm. Rotational-invariant speckle-scanning ultrasonography offers a new approach to image through thick bones and paves an avenue towards high-resolution ultrasonic imaging of the human brain.